Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, also known as Taqa, has completed an asset-transfer deal with its parent Abu Dhabi Power Corporation’s (ADPower) to create one of the largest utility companies in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Jasim Husain Thabet, who was CEO of ADPower, has been appointed CEO and MD of Taqa. Saeed Hamad Al Dhaheri has been named deputy CEO, with Stephen John Ridlington appointed as the company’s chief financial officer.
The transaction, saw ADPower transfer the majority of its power and water generation, transmission and distribution assets to Taqa, was completed in exchange for 106 billion new shares.
Taqa received shareholders’ approval for the transaction in April 2020, after it was first proposed by ADPower to Taqa’s board of directors in February.
Listed on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), Taqa has now become the third-largest publicly traded company by market capitalisation in the UAE. The utility giant stands among the top 10 integrated utility companies by regulated assets in the EMEA.
With the completion of the transaction, ADPower will own 98.60% of the entire issued share capital of Taqa, which intends to seek an increase to the free float through a follow on public offering.
Energy champion
“The successful consolidation of Abu Dhabi’s power and water assets has created a true national energy champion that is well-positioned to spearhead the transformation of the utilities industry,” said Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, chairman of Taqa.
“TAQA’s strong balance sheet, predictable income, access to global capital markets and deep industry expertise enables it to play an active role in the UAE’s diversification strategy, putting a strong emphasis on clean sources
In the UAE, Taqa’s assets include 12 water and power generation plants.
The company also has operations in Canada, Ghana, India, Iraq, Morocco, the Netherlands, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the UK and the US, in addition to ADPower’s power and water transmission and distribution companies.
Taqa has 23GW of power generation capacity globally and 916 MIGD of water desalination capacity, of which 1.4 GW are from renewable sources.
Taqa also has a further 4.4 GW and 200 MIGD under development, including 2GW from renewable sources.
“Taqa is now positioned to be a leading player in one of the world’s most exciting energy markets, the UAE. We benefit from a strong capital structure, a robust business model and exclusivity rights to participate in all generation and water desalination projects tendered in Abu Dhabi over the next decade with a minimum 40% equity share,” said Jasim Husain Thabet.
“Looking ahead, I’m confident that the combination of our enlarged base of power and water assets, diverse and talented workforce and strategic growth plans will enable us to capture exciting new opportunities now and in the years to come.”
The company’s Q1 2020 revenues declined 9% year-on-year to AED 4 billion. Loss attributed to shareholders in the same period was AED 1.7 billion.
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